Sprinkles of Magic

Four

"I'm sorry," Merope Gaunt whispered, cradling her new born baby. "I'm sorry."

She had felt her magic slipping from her long before. She could have simply waited for Death to come by her side and put her all out of her misery but she knew better. She wanted her child to live, to see the wonders of the world that she once dared to take a peek.

Love, Merope learned, was cruel. It could break a person until there's nothing left except for a shell of a once loving being. Love, she also knew, was a cure. It could bring you out of the darkness and lead you slowly to redemption. Love was bad and good, and Merope wanted her baby to learn that.

"I'm sorry," she repeated, her eyelids drooping.

The woman in charge of the orphanage looked at the pair in pity. She could see the mother's struggle, she could see that she was dying. "What would you name him?"

"Tom, from his father, and Marvolo from my father," Merope answered. "Tom Marvolo Riddle."

'Quite a peculiar name,' the woman thought but she nodded. She looked at the mother, silently asking her if she could have the baby. Surprisingly, Merope gently gave her son to the woman's arms.

Merope placed a soft kiss on Tom's forehead, her vision blurring. She took one last glance at the woman before weakly smiling. The smile drained all her strength and Merope slumped on the bed, her body still.

The woman looked at the crying baby in her arms. Just moments ago, the child was quiet, but as if he noticed his mother's death, he reacted to it. Wailing, Tom desperately tried to claw his way out of the stranger's arms. The woman didn't let go.

Humming a lullaby, the woman closed the door, looking back on Merope's body before letting the door shut.

*sorry if it's short